26 MAY 2024
The way buyers search for property differs from person to person. So, we thought it would be good to share some insights from Domain which shows the most searched suburbs in the area.
Unsurprisingly, Newcastle is the most popular suburb, especially for people outside the area. It’s probably a good starting point for people to explore from there.
But from then onwards, things get interesting. The rest of the list doesn’t necessarily mean more valuable suburbs. For example, Hamilton East is way down on the list despite being one of the premium suburbs in terms of location and price.
Our biggest suburbs tend to be at the top of the list. Merewether is not just a desirable place to live but also a big suburb. With over 5000 homes, there are lots of properties listed and sold each year. New Lambton, Wallsend and Mayfield are all heavily populated and appear at the top of the list. Charlestown, Cardiff, Cameron Park, and other areas in the Lake Macquarie LGA would also feature heavily (however, this list includes only the Newcastle figures).
I see buying real estate as a series of compromises. You might have a list of critical things when you start your journey. But after a while, you realise you might not find what you are looking for in the budget you hope to stick to. Things like a second bathroom or ducted air-conditioning can often move from being critical to being 'nice to haves'.
The location is the same. Sure, we would all love to live in Bar Beach with spectacular ocean views, but then there is the budget to consider. Depending on the buyer's age, school zones can often be a large deciding factor as to where to buy.
Both realestate.com.au (referred to as REA) and Domain automatically include the surrounding suburbs when searching. And this is the key to getting more eyeballs on your property when you are looking to sell.
Getting the best price is about finding enough of the right buyers and creating some competition. Having just a handful of people to talk to is a guaranteed way to fail. If you are in Waratah West, Mayfield West, Kotara South, or even Georgetown, picking up buyers who weren’t looking in your suburb is absolutely critical.
Take Mayfield West as an example. A simple REA search at the time of writing will show you three homes for sale in the suburb. But the list doesn’t stop there. It then includes properties in Lambton, North Lambton, Shortland, Hamilton North, Mayfield, and Waratah.
If you were to search one of these surrounding suburbs, you would find properties listed in Mayfield West. The rub here, though, is that this list can be hundreds of properties long. The way that information is presented to you has a big impact on how many people will see that listing.
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